The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team opened conference play with a 73-52 loss at Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, CT. The Knights fall to 1-7 on the season and 0-1 in Northeast Conference action, while the Bobcats improve to 4-3 this season.
Senior guard Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) led FDU with 21 points and seven rebounds, while senior guard Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) scored 14 points.
Quinnipiac started the game with an 8-2 run, stretching its lead to 18-4 at the 9:21 mark on a lay-in from Jamee Jackson as the Knights were able to create offensive opportunities, but had trouble converting.
FDU was able to get things going offensively, as Baptiste connected on two free throws and a trey to make it 20-12.
A bucket by redshirt sophomore forward DeJuan Pursley (Leonia, NJ/Leonia) made it a 28-20 game at the 3:22 mark. The Knights were able to cut the Bobcats' lead down to seven, 33-26, on a free throw from Baptiste with just over a minute remaining in the half.
Quinnipiac entered the half with a 36-26 lead, led by 15 points from James Feldeine.
After making only two field goals in the first 11 minutes, the Knights got into a rhythm and connected on seven in the following six minutes.
Baptiste led the Knights with 15 points and five rebounds. The Bobcats held a 24-18 edge in rebounding and out-shot FDU, 45 percent-32 percent.
Quinnipiac staged a 9-4 to start the second half, and on the strength of nine-straight points from Justin Rutty, QU took a 50-31 lead with under 15 and a half minutes remaining.
After Scott netted two free throws, , the two teams traded baskets for the next four minutes, until the Bobcats grabbed hold of their largest lead of the game, 71-43 with 5:12 remaining in regulation.
Rutty was held to eight points in the first half, but recorded 15 in the final 20 minutes of the game to lead the team with 23 points. Rutty also grabbed eight rebounds, while Feldeine notched 22 points and Dave Johnson added 10. Jamee Jackson grabbed eight rebounds.
"We need to work on our offense," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "Our defense is still improving- we held them to 16 points in the first nine minutes, but we have to score more than four points during that period. We have to work on our execution and defending the transition game when our shots aren't falling. Having Alvin [Mofunanya] out hurt us, but DeJuan had some great minutes."
The Knights, who have won the only home game played so far this season, will return to Stratis Arena to host Army on Monday evening at 7:00 p.m.
